Chapter 1

The head of King Industries stares at me across his desk with the look of accusation that's become so commonplace that you'd think I'm a convicted criminal and not his brother. The guy has everything he's ever wanted, and still it's like he's not happy. Even worse, he's made it his life's mission to quash any happiness I might ever find in this life.

"Kellen, do you have anything to say about this?" Matthias asks in a voice that matches his expression.

Accusatory. It's actually beginning to piss me off.

"Matthias, I've told you over and over. I didn't do anything illegal, so why are you getting your shorts in a bunch? We had a good time. That's it. I can prove it. Hang on."

He returns to his handwringing about how things have changed and yadda yadda yadda. I swear he was born stressed out. It's actually surprising he hasn't stroked out by now. If this is what being nearly thirty is like for him, I can only imagine how middle age is going to be.

Hopefully, I'm not in the same hemisphere as he is when that time rolls around.

I fish my phone out of my suitcoat pocket and bring up all the text messages from the persons involved in this latest effort of my brother making a mountain out of a molehill. Setting the phone in front of him on his desk, I point at the texts and smile like the innocent man I am.

"See? You can read them all. I gathered them up into a nice folder for you. Nothing but a good time. No one made any promises of forever. These women liked me. I liked them. Nature took its rightful course. No harm. No foul. Now if I can go, I've got a weekend to plan."

He scours each text, fixating on every word like he's trying to break a code or solve some mystery. Sorry, big brother. There's nothing in those messages but grown adults having fun.

Finally, Matthias pushes my phone back toward me, but he's shaking his head. What the hell could be wrong now? I just showed him absolute proof I did nothing wrong.

"Has it ever occurred to you that not everything you do needs to be part of texts? Jesus, Kellen. What if some trashy magazine got a hold of those?"

"I'd be the most popular man in America? Relax. Seriously. Grown men and women sometimes like to list what they want to do or have done to them. It's not a big deal. Christ, don't you know how to have a good time anymore?"

That's assuming he ever did, which I'm highly doubtful was ever the case. My brother is the poster child for responsibility, and except for one glaring exception, he's never done anything that could possibly make anyone think he doesn't always follow the rules.

Before he can defend his choices as having a good time, I snatch up my phone and turn to leave. "This has been a little slice of heaven, as always, big brother. I'm going to go plan a few glorious days of fun for myself. I'd suggest you do the same, but I already know that isn't going to happen. Remember, we have a three day weekend, so I'll see you on Tuesday!"

As I head for his office door, he once again warns me to make sure I stay out of trouble. He wishes. My fondest hope for the next couple days is I get into as much trouble as my body can handle.

I wave at him and without looking back say, "Got it! Straight and narrow. Have a great weekend!"

* * *

Stretching my arms above my head, I let out a heavy groan after a long day. I definitely work too hard, especially on days I actually come into the office. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. It's not like I need the money. I've been a billionaire since the day I was born, so I could theoretically lay around in bed until dinner every day and then party until dawn, repeating that over and over, day after day, until I die.

That sounds boring as fuck, though. It also sounds lame since I'm young, wealthy, and able to do whatever I want in life.

So why do I choose to work at the family business as a subordinate to my oldest brother? It's complicated. I blame my father.

Something in my DNA makes me want to succeed in business, so I might as well work at King Industries. I'm not thrilled with having to work under Matthias, especially now after all that's happened this year, but at any other company I'd have to start much lower on the totem pole, even with my MBA.

So why not work at the family business?

If my father had been able to see past that eldest son delusion he had his entire life, I would have been the one he choose to head the company when he died. It makes sense. I actually give a damn about King Industries and went to school to be in the position to run it. My oldest brother doesn't even have a graduate degree. True, he did get a degree in business and did well at Cornell, but it's not like he ever liked the idea of having to work at King Industries. He's always been more artistic than business minded.

But since he won in the birth order lottery, Matthias got to be the head of the company and I got to accept that my abilities will likely go to waste for years while I wait for him to walk away and be the family man and artist he's always dreamed of being. It's not my idea of how to live my life, but whatever.

With the impending arrival of his first child, I might get the chance to take over the reins for at least a little while as he coos over my nephew or niece and changes diapers like Daddy of the Year. Again, not my idea of fun, but my brother and I have never been that similar.

The one brother I always felt closest to was Theo. That brother knew how to have a good time. Not that Marius and Ronan don't, but Theo and I never failed to find some fun together.

I close my eyes as thoughts of him smiling and laughing fill my mind. It's been six months since Matthias called me to say Theo died in a race, and I swear the sadness I felt that day hasn't eased one bit in all that time. I want to remember him as the guy I knew who always chose to have fun, but that's smothered by how much I miss him.

Shaking my head to get rid of those feelings, I look down at my desk and see my phone lighting up with messages. I don't even have to check to see who they're from because it's been this way for the past three days. Text after text from the same person.

Gina, the woman I had a good time with but never wanted more than that. Now she's blowing up my phone about how she thought we were serious. I can't imagine why she believed that, though. I don't exactly give off the settle down vibe.

Maybe she confused me with that brother of mine who sits in the head office when he's not busy taking care of that pregnant girlfriend of his or painting some masterpiece in his art studio they set up in the old carriage house. How Gina could have mistaken me for Matthias baffles me, but women do strange things.

I read through her messages and sigh. She claims she loves me. What the hell is that about? We hung out a grand total of four times. She thinks that's love?

That's barely lust.

In truth, what she and I were was bored. Or at least I was. I got sick and tired of wishing my life wasn't the way it is and wanted to forget everything for a while. We had a good time. Why would anyone want to make it more than that?

Since I haven't replied to a single one of her texts, Gina starts calling. I don't answer the first one, but when she calls a second time not a minute later, I know I'm going to have to talk to her if I ever want peace again.

"Hey, Gina. What's up?" I say casually.

"Kellen, did you get my messages? Why didn't you text back?" she asks, her voice sounding like she's on the verge of some breakdown.

"Yeah, I did, but I've been busy."

"It's a long weekend. I thought we could spend it together."

I honestly have no idea what she would think that. At no point have I given her even the slightest indication we were anything serious enough to spend a three-day weekend together.

"I'm going to be busy. You know how it is. Lots of work to do."

"You can't take a few hours off?" she asks, her voice practically begging.

"They're sending me out of town," I lie.

I need to find a way to make her see we weren't anything serious. I've tried being casual and noncommittal. It hasn't worked.

"Why are you acting like this? I thought you cared about me."

Since my approach so far hasn't been successful, I don't have any choice. I need to just be honest with her.

"Gina, we had a good time together. People like us deserve that, but we also don't look for anything more. Why can't we just appreciate it for what it was?"

The phone goes silent for a long moment before she answers, "Because it wasn't like that with us. Why can't you admit that? Didn't you see my message where I said I love you? I know you love me too. I felt it when we were together."

I honestly have no idea what the hell she's talking about. The four times we got together, we had sex. That's it. Well, there was dinner involved the first time, but after that all we had was sex. There was never any mention of feelings or anything like that, and I certainly never said I loved her.

"Gina, that isn't what we were. We had a good time. Let's just leave it at that, okay?"

What I really want to say is she's out of her mind, but since I don't think that's going to do anything to improve the situation, I stay mum about her mental state. Better to take the high road.

She doesn't feel the same way, though, and snaps, "You can't just play with people's feelings, Kellen King. You're going to get yours. Watch your back, baby."

The phone call ends with that delightful threat I don't give a shit about, and I sit back, looking up at the ceiling as I wonder what the hell made her think we were anything real. I may not have any experience with real feelings, but I know for damn sure what we felt for one another would never be considered anything close.

I send her messages to the folder set up to hold them all and toss my phone back on the desk. She'll get over whatever this is. It shouldn't take long. I wasn't exactly an important part of her life.

For a moment, I think I might agree with Matthias about breaking his favorite work rule, no fraternization between employees. That disappears almost instantaneously, though, because I hate the idea of agreeing with him. So what if two consenting adults who happen to work together have some fun?

I know how this will go for me. That woman in HR with the gray wiry hair pulled back in the tightest bun on planet Earth will give me one of her lectures and then send me on my way. They're boring as hell, but I get it. She has a job to do, so I sit through them and pretend to listen as she explains the rules and how I must not break them.

I don't care about any of that, but I respect the fact that she's got to do what she's got to do. I always smile when she finishes with her spiel and wish her well when I leave our meetings. I'm a manwhore, but I'm a professional when it comes to her. I think she appreciates that.

Unfortunately, big man Matthias doesn't. In fact, I don't think he could find fun if it bit him on the ass and introduced itself to him. Every time there's a problem, he gives me that same talking to about how dating co-workers is a big no-no and how this could hurt the company.

Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. That's all I hear when he's droning on about some rule forbidding us sleeping with women who work for King Industries.

As if that didn't make women like Gina all the more appealing. Doesn't my brother understand that forbidden fruit is more tempting than any other? He should. Ava was the textbook definition of forbidden, and he saw no problem with going after her.

See, that's my issue with him. Well, one of them, but it's pretty much the biggest. He's a hypocrite. I sleep with women I like who like me and just happen to work at the same company as I do, and somehow I'm a bad guy. He steals his own brother's girlfriend, and that's just fine.

Fuck that.

I enjoy what I want, when I want, with whomever I want. It's one of the perks of being a billionaire. He should know that, but somewhere along the way, he lost sight of how to have fun.

Tired of thinking about Gina and her issues and my oldest brother and his, I stretch again and wonder what I should do now. It's the beginning of a three-day weekend, so maybe London? I haven't been to my place there in a few months, so that could work. But no, the flight takes too long. I don't want to eat up that much time getting to the fun. That leaves out Theo's house in France he left me in his will.

Not that I've gone there since he died. I can't bring myself to be in that house yet. Maybe someday, but not now. It's too soon.

I grab my phone and search for good places to visit and up pops Turks and Caicos. That could work. It wouldn't take long to get there, and I could definitely do some warm weather. Spring may technically have arrived in New York City according to the calendar, but like usual, it's been far colder than April always promises.

A long weekend in the islands. I like that idea. I wonder if I can use the company jet. My hopes are instantly dashed when I remember Matthias has to travel to Rome this Monday, which means no private jet for me.

I make a mental note to start looking into buying my own plane. My brother always gives me a hard time when I request to use the King Industries jet, and having my own would make getting away easier.

For the moment, commercial it is. I quickly buy a first-class ticket from JFK to Providenciales International Airport and lean back in my office chair, pleased with how my weekend is shaping up. Sun, booze, and a woman or two.

Now that's a good time.

* * *

After a flight of just over three hours seated next to a man who thought snoring the entire time was anything those of us in first class wanted to endure and then a quick ride in the limo, I arrive at my beachfront villa ready to enjoy myself for the next few days. My phone is off, I don't have my laptop, and I told my assistant back in New York not to bother me unless someone I care about is dead.

The vision of turquoise blue water right outside my door and the incredible scent of the ocean fill my senses. I could live here for the rest of my life. I wonder if I could convince that miserly brother of mine to let me relocate down here to the islands. I could run an entire office out of this place. Maybe I'll bring it up to him at our next meeting. He'll likely shoot down the entire plan as soon as I get the words out of my mouth, but it can't hurt to try.

I look around the nearly all white villa and smile. This is exactly what I've needed since my last vacation right around the holidays. After spending Christmas at the old house with the rest of my family, I desperately needed to escape reality for a while. That place has too much Theo and too much Matthias and Ava for my taste. So I spent two weeks ringing in the New Year in Italy before I hung out with Ronan at his place in Rome for a few days.

This vacation is different, though. For the next three days, I don't want to think about any Kings or the company or even business at all. All I want to do is have a good time.

On that note, I look around for the champagne the resort always leaves in the villas but the private pool catches my eye instead. A dip in the water would be nice. Let me just find that champagne first.

Ah, there it is in the silver bucket in the living room. A minute later, I lift the flute to my lips and enjoy my first sip before stripping out of my clothes and heading toward the pool.

The water is the perfect temperature, and I slide into the deeper end, instantly feeling the stress ease from my body. I definitely think this should be the location of the new office of King Industries. Just imagining every day ending with me in this pool and a bottle of champagne nearby tells me I need to convince Matthias this has to happen.

Maybe if I wait until the baby is born. He's definitely going to be more receptive to giving me what I want then. He practically did a backflip when he found out Ava was pregnant. I can only imagine what he'll be like when the kid finally arrives.

I close my eyes as the sun setting beneath the horizon fills the scene around me. Yes, this is definitely the life. No phone buzzing constantly with people who want things from me. No emails or texts to interrupt me at all hours of the day and night.

Nothing but relaxation and pleasure, my two favorite things.

Now to find a woman or two to share the next few days with and this vacation will be complete.